William Steel Dickson
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William Steel Dickson | |
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Spouse | Isabella Gamble |
William Steel Dickson (1744–1824) was an
Early life
Dickson was born on 25 December 1744, the eldest son of John Dickson, a tenant farmer of Ballycraigy, in the parish of Carnmoney, County Antrim.[1] His mother was Jane Steel and on the death (13 May 1747) of his uncle, William Steel, the family added his Mother's maiden name to their own.
In his boyhood, Dickson was educated by Robert White, a Presbyterian minister from
Political differences were probably at the root of a secession from his congregation in 1777. The seceders formed a new congregation at Kirkcubbin, in defiance of the authority of the general synod.
In 1771 he married Isabella Gamble, a woman of some means, who died on 15 July 1819. Dickson had at least 8 children, but outlived them all. One of his sons was in the Royal Navy and died in 1798.
Volunteers and politics
Dickson entered with zest into the volunteer movement of 1778, being warmly in favour of the admission of Roman Catholics to the ranks. This was resisted “through the greater part of Ulster, if not the whole”. In a sermon to the Echlinville volunteers (28 March 1779) Dickson advocated the enrolment of Catholics, and though induced to modify his language in printing the discourse, he offended “all the Protestant and Presbyterian bigots in the country”. He was accused of being a papist at heart, “for the very substantial reason, among others, that the maiden name of the parish priest's mother was Dickson”.
Though the contrary has been stated, Dickson was not a member of the Volunteer conventions at
Society of the United Irishmen
In December 1791, Dickson joined Robert White's son,
At a great volunteer meeting in Belfast on 14 July 1792 he opposed a resolution for the gradual removal of
Rebellion of 1798 and imprisonment
In March and April 1798 Dickson was in
Dickson was conveyed to Belfast, and lodged in the 'black hole' and other prisons, till 12 August when he was removed to a prison ship with William Tennant, Robert Hunter and Robert Simms, David Bailie Warden and Thomas Ledlie Birch, and detained there amid considerable discomfort. On 25 March 1799, Dickson, Tennant, Hunter, and Simms joined the United Irish 'State Prisoners' on a ship bound for Fort George, Highland prison in Scotland.[9] This group, which included Samuel Neilson, Arthur O'Connor, Thomas Russell, William James MacNeven, and Thomas Addis Emmet arrived in Scotland on 9 April 1799. Dickson would spend two years there.
Unlike the more high-profile prisoners like O'Connor and MacNeven who would not be released until June 1802, Tennant, Dickson, and Simms were permitted to return to Belfast in January 1802.[10]
Later life and death
Dickson returned to liberty and misfortune. His wife had long been a helpless invalid, his eldest son was dead, his prospects were ruined. His congregation at Portaferry had been declared vacant on 28 November 1799. William Moreland, who had been ordained as his successor on 16 June 1800, at once offered to resign, but Dickson would not hear of this. He had thoughts of emigration, but decided to stand his ground. At length, he was chosen by a seceding minority from the congregation of Keady, County Armagh, and installed minister on 4 March 1803.
Dickson’s political engagement ended with his attendance on 9 September 1811 of a Catholic meeting in Armagh, on returning from which he was cruelly beaten by Orangemen. In 1815 he resigned his charge in broken health, and henceforth subsisted on charity. Joseph Wright, an Episcopalian lawyer, gave him a cottage rent-free in the suburbs of Belfast, and some of his old friends made him a weekly allowance. His last appearance in the pulpit was early in 1824. He died on 27 December 1824, having just passed his eightieth year, and was buried 'in a pauper's grave' at Clifton Street Cemetery, Belfast.[11]
Notes
References
- Courtney, Roger (2013). Dissenting Voices : Rediscovering the Irish Progressive Presbyterian Tradition. Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation. OCLC 916953798.
- Devlin, Patrick. "William Steel Dickson (1744 - 1824): United Irishman". The Dictionary of Ulster Biography. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
- Hill, Myrtle (2001). The time of the end : millenarian beliefs in Ulster. Belfast: Belfast Society in association with the Ulster Historical Foundation. OCLC 46854636.
- Richard R Madden (1860), The United Irishmen: Their Lives and Times, with Several Additional Memoirs, and Authentic Documents, Heretofore Unpublished, the Whole Matter Newly Arranged and Revised, Volume 4, James Duffy, 1860 – Ireland.
- A.T.Q. Stewart (1998), "1798 in the North", History Ireland, Issue 2 (Summer 1998), The United Irishmen, Volume 6 (available online at: http://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/1798-in-the-north/. Retrieved 3 March 2016)
External links
- Gordon, Alexander (1892). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 32. pp. 46–48.